note 1: make sure you have a decent sized work space to assemble everything. lay a soft cloth or towel down first to assemble everything to avoid damaging the plastics.

note 2: you will need to be very careful when handling electronics in general but even more so when handling the plastics as it's very easy to build up a static charge. make sure to ground yourself regularly by touching a piece exposed metal. alternatively, you can wear a ESD strap if you have one.

note 3: when tightening the screws, DO NOT over tighten them as you can risk cracking the acrylic panels. tighten up (finger tight) to get everything assembled and then apply another 1/16-1/4 turn to snug them up.

[step 1]
peel the protective paper off of the [front] side of the rear acrylic panel so that the small and rectangular holes are positioned on the right side and the hangers are right-side up (with the larger, circular sections positioned at the bottom)

try and handle the acrylic by the edges when removing the protective film (and when handling it in general) to avoid fingerprints. some static will be generated when peeling the film, grounding yourself from the beginning will reduce the dust from gravitating to the acrylic panel

you may also notice some white 'dust' on the acrylic pieces. this is residue from the laser cutting and can be easily dusted off with a soft cloth. I use a microfiber cloth and/or a 3D swiffer. there is no need to rub the plastic hard, as you'll only risk scratching it and building up more static

remember to periodically ground yourself during the assembly process to keep the static down to a minimum.

[step 2]
with the large cut out and the square positioned so that it is in the right side corner, insert (4) of M3x12mm screws (F) into the PCB mounting holes. use the four M3 nuts (H) to hold them in position before screwing the (4) small M3x8mm spacers (C) onto them. the nuts will extend the height of the spacers giving enough clearance for the pc boardM3x12mm screws and M3 nuts installedM3x8mm spacers installed

note: I find it easier to attach the (6) M4x12mm stainless button head screws (E) and M4 washers (J) now as well as shown here. the nuts not only secure the screws, but also add the necessary height required so that there is enough room for everything to fit between the two acrylic panelsM4 screws secured to the rear panel

EXP ONE optional step:[step 2a]
if you are planning to install the EXP ONE board to include wireless functionality, you'll want to attach a second set of (4) M3x12mm screws and secure them with (4) M3 nuts before adding the M3x8mm spacers. the EXP ONE board can be mounted in one of two positions, allowing access of the additional menu control buttons from either the top or bottom.EXP ONE stand-offs installed

[step 3]
on one set of provided cables, cut off the connectors and strip one end of the wires (exposing about 3/16" to 1/4" of the wire) and twist the exposed strands that came with the LED display panels as shown in the image below. this end will get inserted into power connector on the pc boardterminals cut off and wire stripped

[step 4]
secure the cable from the previous step into the power connector and insert the ribbon cable into the 16-pin socket (labeled HUB08 displays) as shown belowrun-dmd pc board prepared

EXP ONE optional step:[step 4a]
attach the smaller ribbon cable to the run-dmd and EXP ONE pc boards as shownEXP ONE connection

[step 5]
secure the run-dmd pc board to the rear acrylic panel using the four short M3x8mm screws (G)IMG_1532_(resized).JPG

EXP ONE optional step:[step 5a]
secure the EXP ONE board using a second set of short M3x8mm screws and route the excess cable so that it is tucked away neatlyEXP ONE cable routed so that it does not interfere with the rear panel access

tidy up the excess ribbon cable leading to the EXP ONE board and attach the wireless receiver into the 7-pin connector as shown (note the orientation of the receiver board)EXP ONE board mountedEXP ONE cable tucked away

[step 6]
preparing the DMDs. place the DMDs face down on your work surface. (note the orientation of the arrows on the DMDs, this is important)
strip approximately 3/8" to 1/2" from both ends of the two lengths of 14" wire, twist the exposed strands and connect them to the 2 power connectors on the back of the LED displays as shown. make sure that you connect 'ground' to 'ground' ('earth' to 'earth' for you british folk) between the displays and to the ground wire leading from the pc board and then do the same for the live wire connections.wires connected and neatly routed

connect the 2nd ribbon cable as shown to join the data connection between the 2 displays. not that the red strip [pin 1] of the ribbon cable is positioned so that it is at the top of the display (with relation to the arrows).note: I've uncoupled the one connector end, trimmed the excess length and then re-terminated the end so that the ribbon cable is nice and tidy (as shown)

[step 8]
connect the ribbon cable leading the run-dmd pc board to the right hand DMD, note the orientation of the red stripe on the ribbon cable (as shown in the image below) and tie in the power cable to the displays (making sure to match '+5v' to '+5v' and 'ground' to 'ground')tying the data line and power cable in

[step 9]
attach the displays to rear acrylic frame using (4) of the remaining (8) long M3x12mm screws (F) and the M3 backing washers (K). the washers will prevent the stand-offs from getting pulled [into] the holes of the rear frame when tightening the screws.IMG_1547_(resized).JPGIMG_1548_(resized).JPG

once you have 4 of the screws holding the LED panels in place and before proceeding any further, now is a good time to test everything to make sure that the clock is functioning. plug in the power cable to turn it on and verify your work up to now.everything appears to be connected correctly
if everything looks good, unplug the power cable and proceed as follows.

before securing the remaining (4) M3x12mm screws, use the available access room to carefully route the ribbon and power cable so that they are both tucked neatly inside of the frame and the power connector is accessibleIMG_1550_(resized).JPGIMG_1549_(resized).JPG

note: do not tighten the screws that secure the LED panels to the acrylic completely. the holes were intentionally made a little larger so that you can line the two DMDs up perfectly. once they are lined up, you can gently tighten the screws. do not use excessive force when tightening the screws, otherwise you may risk stripping the nylon stand-offsIMG_1551_(resized).JPG
I tend to tighten the screws with the entire clock positioned sideways (vertically) so that I can allow gravity to help settle the top panel into position before tightening down the 2 inner screws. I then flip the assembly over 180° and repeat the process to tighten the remaining (2) inner screws before tightening down the (4) outer screws.IMG_1553_(resized).JPG

once you are done, the two LED panels should line up pretty nicely as shown hereIMG_1554_(resized).JPG

note: if the panels are still not positioned as tight together as you'd like them, simply use a cable tie (or 2) on the stand-offs to [cinch] them together

[step 10]
after attaching the M4 spacers (A) to the exposed screw threads, strip the protective paper from both sides of the front panel and make sure the tinted piece of acrylic is dust free before securing using the (6) black oxide M4x12mm screws (D)

create an account on ponoko.com, upload the .svg files and get them laser cut. the desired material is under plastics - P3 sized acrylic (transparent gray for the front panel and either gloss or matte black for the rear panel), 3mm thickness. the files will create 2 sets of acrylic frames

I gave Linus (limpan here on pinside) a single .svg file as well (where both the front and rear panels were contained on a single sheet), however he doesn't seem to have posted it.

note: if you use the single file (where both the front and rear on are one sheet), you need to select the transparent gray acrylic (otherwise, you'll have a difficult time viewing the LED displays thru opaque acrylic

yep, that is the correct type, size and thickness of material. with that version (rear panels seperate from the fronts), you can select glossy or matte black as the material for the rear panel.
.svg attachments cannot be posted to pinside. I'll put the file for one set of frames on a single sheet on my ftp tonight and a link to it (if I remember)

Hey j_m_, wanted to float this back up and see if you had a chance to post the link to the single sheet file?
Also, are the files currently posted on run-dmd.com the latest that accounts for the new edge board?
Thank you.

I haven't posted a link to the single sheet files due to the fact that there are now about 4-5 variations of the displays that have been made and it's hard to know what people are trying to use (and I don't want people trying to use something that is incompatible and then complain). the best bet is to take measurements (in millimeters for the height and width of the studs on the backside of the display panels [center to center]) and pm me. I can then send you a link for the plans that match that panel (if I've already designed something for them)

if I haven't designed anything for that configuration (like the newer run-dmd EDGE board), I will let you know. I know that for the newest panels (which are comprised of 32x32 LED segments on each panel), I still need to make design changes.

I haven't posted a link to the single sheet files due to the fact that there are now about 4-5 variations of the displays that have been made and it's hard to know what people are trying to use (and I don't want people trying to use something that is incompatible and then complain). the best bet is to take measurements (in millimeters for the height and width of the studs on the backside of the display panels [center to center]) and pm me. I can then send you a link for the plans that match that panel (if I've already designed something for them)
if I haven't designed anything for that configuration (like the newer run-dmd EDGE board), I will let you know. I know that for the newest panels (which are comprised of 32x32 LED segments on each panel), I still need to make design changes.

I want to thank you for putting this out there and designing the frame for this awesome clock! Spectacular job putting it all together. I used your files, got the material cut @ Ponoko, and I now have my own Run-DMD clock! When I went to buy the parts (minus the Run-dmd boards of course) I bought from two sources:

Aliexpress.com
mcmaster.com

The Amazon company linked to above, Bolt Base, is showing delivery times a month out so I ordered the screws from McMaster Carr. They got me the screws I needed within 3 business days. The only tricky part is they didn't have flanged M3 screws in black oxide when I ordered. I didn't order any flanged screws, I ended up using the non-flanged M3 screws with nylon washers instead since I have so many extra screws and washers. For the face of the clock I used the non-flanged M4 screws which I painted black. As you mentioned you don't want to over-tighten them and the M4 screw heads were large enough to cover the holes so I'm not worried about them not being flanged.

The nylon standoffs I bought from two different vendors in China on Aliexpress.com. So far I have been happy with the parts I have ordered from Aliexpress. They have all been high quality. I got lucky with the DMD panels as well which I also bought from Aliexpress.com. Here are the ones I ordered:

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